Two federal agencies are laying the foundation for wind turbines to join oil derricks in the Gulf of Mexico, by launching a study of the effects seismic research poses on whales, fish and other marine life in the region.

The last environmental analysis was done nearly a decade ago, before the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and a draft of the new study is expected by the middle of 2014. It will help guide future permitting of seismic surveys in the region, whether done for oil and gas development or renewable energy initiatives.

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Weigh in

Federal officials have scheduled hearings in Galveston and other Gulf Coast locations, and are taking public comments online and by mail.

Online: At www.regulations.gov, search for "Geological and Geophysical Exploration Activities on Federal and State Waters of the Gulf of Mexico" (include the quotation marks in your search terms). Click on the "Comment Now!" button.

Conservationists critical of seismic research cheered the development.

Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said she was encouraged that the government "is finally scrutinizing" the sound associated with seismic research, including air guns that produce pulses loud enough to penetrate under the seafloor.

"Whales and dolphins in the Gulf depend on sound for communication and finding food, but these blasts - sometimes as loud as an explosion - make it all but impossible," Sakashita said.

Separately, the ocean energy bureau is on track to unveil as early as November a final environmental study of a potential offshore seismic research program in the Atlantic Ocean from Delaware to Florida, after releasing a draft of that analysis last year.

The new Gulf-focused study is meant to guide the Interior Department's decisions on approving oil and geophysical companies' requests for permits to conduct seismic surveys in the future.

A coalition of environmentalists sued the Interior Department in 2010, saying regulators had run afoul of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act by allowing seismic surveys without a fresh look at the environmental impacts of the geophysical research on whales and dolphins in the region. That lawsuit is still pending in a Louisiana federal court.

Some oil industry leaders have said that environmentalists are targeting the government's handling of seismic survey permits as a way to slow offshore drilling. Seismic activity is one of the first steps in a long path to offshore drilling. Oil and gas companies use the data gleaned by geophysical contractors to discern what areas they may want to lease and where they want to pursue drilling.

Conservationists say the air guns cause some animals to be displaced and disrupt the feeding and mating behaviors of others.

But industry officials point to research showing that seismic shots aren't likely to harm marine life.For example, scientists in San Diego who tried in 2012 to study temporary losses in hearing sensitivity by marine mammals could not induce the problem after exposing a dolphin to 10 impulses from an air gun.